"I had two different feelings from that fight"- Francis Ngannou reveals what he learned after his first fight against Stipe Miocic
Ahead of his rematch against Stipe Miocic, heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou has reflected on his first fight against the reigning UFC heavyweight champion.
During his recent interview with Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience, The Predator stated that his first fight against Miocic was more of a learning experience. Ngannou also added that he had two different feelings after his loss to Miocic in 2018 and was disappointed and upset he couldn't get the job done.
"I had two different feelings from that fight. First, obviously, I was very upset and disappointed that I didn't win the fight. You know as everyone who is fighting for the title, you wanna get out there as victorious."
Francis Ngannou added that the first fight against Stipe Miocic was more of a learning experience for him. Having barely competed for the proper three rounds, Ngannou questioned what it was like to compete in a five-round fight.
"But to be honest, I always look at that fight, and just after the fight I look at it and I'm like, 'This is good'. I learned just too much in that fight because even though I was in the level of fighting for the world title but I still had some missing part in my game and in my experience. I questioned myself, "Okay, how did it look like to go into three rounds?" Basically, I'm going into potential five rounds that I never been in three rounds. How did it look like? How is it to prepare for this kind of fight? And I had this fight like six weeks earlier, so I was having a lot of question."
Francis Ngannou will challenge Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight championship once again
After the first fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion lost and regained the UFC heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Ngannou went on a terrorizing run in the UFC, knocking out opponents left, right, and center.
Miocic will be defending the UFC heavyweight title against Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 on the 27th of March. The fight will serve as the main event of the pay-per-view and will be Miocic's first title defense since beating Daniel Cormier in 2020.